Machine for making tacks



Dec. 16, 1952 R. v. HOWELL 2,621,345

MACHINE FOR MAKING TACKS Filed Jan. 18, 1950 OWELL Snventor ROBERT V. H

Patented Dec. 16,1952

UNITED STATES MACHINE FOR MAKING TACK'S Robert V. Howell, Fort. Worth,Tex, assignor to Tok, Inc., Amarillo, Tex., a corporation of Texas.

Application January 18, 1950, Serial No. 139,304

August 12, 1947. This application relates in part a means and method forremoving flash or excess material which may result from the formingoperation referred to in. the foregoing object.

A further object of the invention is to provide, in a pair of roll diesfor forming tacks, a

means whereby the heads of the tacks are prevented from being formed ina direction. away from the lengths of their respective. shanks.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from thefollowing description and the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure l is a broken side elevation of a. ma-

chine for making tacks of the described class,

and embodying the features of th present in.- vention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the roll dies, andparticularly showing the arrange- -ment of a backing ring, forpreventing the heads of. the tacks from expanding outwardly withrespectto the lengths of the tack shanks.

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view of the roll dies where theycontact each other, and showing the position of the. backing ring withrespect thereto- Figure l is a broken planview of a length of roundstock and showing the progressive forma: tion of the tacks madetherefrom inaccordance with the present invention.

Figure 5 is an enlarged plan. view of the trim die illustrated in Figurel, and additionally showing a suggested means for cutting the length offormed tacks into short strips for use in a-magazine type tack hammer.

Figure 6 is a broken elevation of the cutting ,means illustrated inFigure 5.

The machine illustrated in Figure 1. includes a frame or bed 10supported on legs I l. Upon the frame l8 there is a bearing support i3which rotatably supports the shafts M and of a pair of roll dies [6 andi1, respectively; and which dies are arranged in contact with each otherin a vertical position. The roll dies It and II are respectivelyprovided with annular grooves I8 vertical support 32.

and 1:9 which accommodatev a backing: band'or ring 20.. As shown inFigure 1, the ring 20. is supported. by a, bracket 2! mounted on thehear-- ing support [3, and which bracket is bifurcated at its outer endwhere it rotatably supports a T011.- er 22 for engaging the innerperiphery of the ring 20. Anadditional guide member 23; may be seecured.to the bearing support 1:3. and arranged for; slidably engaging the ring29 in front. of

the roll dies. I6 and I1. Cavities 24 and 25', each defining: one-half;a tack, are formed in the cylindrical surfaces of the roll dies I6 andIL The head ends of the respective cavities 24 and 25 open intov each.other so as to form the strips to be described. As. particularly shownin Figure 3, the. head ends: of the cavities 24 and 25 are open towardone side of the ring 20, and whereby the. latter will maintain. a flatsurface on the heads. 25 of. the tacks to be formed. The lengths of thecavities 24 and 25, asv will beseen, will form the tack. shanks 211;Although not-shown in the: drawings, the roll dies l6 and I"! are gearedto each other; and are arranged so that the cavities 2.4 and 25 willcoincide with each other.

Mounted on the frame ID, by means of a support 23,. there is a trim die29 which is'arranged opposite and slightly higher than the roll-dies i6and ii. The form of trim die illustrated in.- cludes an eccentric 36' onone end of a shaft 31 iournaled in a vertical support 32., A connectingrod 33' slidably engages the. eccentric 311 at one end thereof, andwhereas the other end is pivotally connected with. a punch 34 whichoperates in a guide 35 secured to the face: of'th'e The end of. thepunch 34 is shaped to remove the: flash 36; which may ex'- between the.tack shanks 2.1-

A. hitch. feed. 31 is. provided. between the trim die 29 and. the. rolldies 16. and IT and is-operated. by a cam 38 mounted onth'etrim dieshaft 3|.

The cam: 33 is cylindrical in shape and is provided. with a" camgroove-.35 around its: outer surface. i A slide 4!! is transverselymounted in the die support 32 and.- has aflaterally projecting pin. A lfor engaging the sides of the cam. groove 39. A1vertical"bracketl2 isfrom linear motion into angular motion; The

lower end of the vertical shaft 43" is similarly provided with an ann46'- which is connected with a feed bar 4| by means of a link 48Pivotally connected thereb-etween." The feed bar 41 is arranged forreciprocating movement on a horizontal support 49 formed by the upperend of the die support 28. The strip of tacks 50 discharged from theroll dies l6 and 11 are received on top of the horizontal support 49 andbeneath the feed bar 41. As shown in Figure 5, the horizontal support 49is provided with a shoulder 52 for guiding the feed bar 41. There is apawl 53 pivotally mounted in an opening 54 in the feed bar 41 by meansof a pivot pin 55, and which pawl is arranged to engage the shanks 21 ofthe strip of tacks 56 and feed the latter toward the punch 34 of thetrim die 29. An elongated opening 56 is also formed through the feed bar41 to accommodate the punch 34.

Beneath the frame Hi there is a motor 51 which drives a pulley 58 bymeans of a belt 59. The pulley 58 is mounted on. a shaft 60 journaled ina supporting member BI and secured to the frame 10. There is a sprocket(not shown) mounted on the shaft fiflwhich drives the sprocket 62mounted on the trim die shaft 3| by means of a chain 63. One of the rolldie supporting shafts I is also driven by the last referred to shaft 60through a train of reduction gears 64, 65, 66 and B1. The first referredto gear 64 of the train is mounted on the drive shaft 60, whereas theintermediategears 65 and 66 are mounted on an intermediate shaft 68journaled in a supporting member 69 mounted on the frame [0. The lastgear 6! of the train is mounted on the roll die shaft 5.

The tack strip cutting mechanism illustrated in Figures 5 and 6 isoptional and is not necessarily a part of the present invention. Thecutting mechanism Ill shown is comprised of a bracket ll supported bythe die support 32 and has a vertically disposed ratchet wheel 12mounted thereon. The number of teeth .13 around the circumference of thewheel 12 cor,- respond in number with the number of tacks to be cut fromthe original strip of tacks 50. The wheel 12 is actuated by a rod 14slidably positioned through the die support 32 and has a lateralprojection for engaging the sides of the cam groove 39. The opposite endof the rod '14 is provided with a pawl 16 for engaging the rachet wheelteeth 73, The side of the wheel 12 includes a cam 18 having an abruptfall 19 in its periphery. A locking pawl 80 is pivotally mounted on theupper end of the bracket 'H and is arranged to engage the teeth 13 so asto prevent counter rotation of the wheel A stub shaft Bl projects fromone side of the bracket H and pivotally supports an L- shaped follower82 which operatesin the manner of a bell crank; One end of the follower82 is in the form of an abrupt turn 83 for coaction with the fall 19 ofthe ratchet wheel cam 18. A circular knife 84 is also mounted on thestub shaft BI and has radially directed blades 85 arranged to receivethe strip of tacks 50 therebetween as the latter is discharged from thefeed bar 41. One face of the circular knife 84 is provided with rachetteeth 86 which coact with a pawl 81 secured to the end of the L-shapedfollower 82 opposite the abruptly turned end 83. It is to be understoodthat the last described pawl 81 and the follower 82 are spring loaded soas to make constant contact with the last described rachet teeth 86 andwith the cam 81, respectively.

The strip of tacks 50 may be formed of bar or wire stock which ispreferably supported on 4 a reel 88 rotatably mounted on a standard 89secured to the frame Ill. As the stock is fed between the roll dies l6and I1, the previously described tack heads 26 and tack shanks 21 areformed, and usually have a certain amount of flash 36 between the saidshanks. The strip of tacks 5D is then fed to a position beneath thepunch 34 by means of the reciprocating hitch feed 37. It will be notedthat the action of the cylindrical cam 38 is such that the hitch feedpawl 53 has the same number of strokes as the punch 34. After the punch34 has removed the excess flash 36 from between the tack shanks 21, thestrip of tacks 50 is fed between adjacent blades 85 of the circularknife 84. By reason of the action of the described cutting mechanism 10,the strip of tacks 50 is cut into short lengths 9D and which fall into abox 9| supported on the frame Ill.

The described form of the invention is not restrictive, but may be madein many ways within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A machine forming strips of tacks joined along opposite sides oftheir heads and having their shanks projecting perpendicularly withrespect to the length thereof, said machine comprising a pair of rolldies each having coinciding tack-shaped cavities around the cylindricalsurfaces thereof for nearly completely forming said strips of tacks, atrim die including a reciprocating punch forming a part thereof, saiddie being arranged for receiving the strip of tacks discharged from saidroll dies, and a hitch feed positioned between said roll dies and saidtrim die, and means synchronizing said hitch feed with said trim diewhereby the punch of the latter operates between the shanks of the tacksfor removing flash therefrom.

2. A machine for forming strips of tacks joined along opposite sides oftheir heads and having their shanks projecting perpendicularly withrespect to the length thereof, said machine comprising a pair of rollerdies each having tackshaped cavities around the cylindrical surfacesthereof, the cavities in one said die being arranged to match thecavities in the remaining said die, and wherein the said cavities ineach said die are joined with each other along the head portionsthereof, and means removing the flash formed between the shank portionsof the resulting tack strips as they emerge from said dies.

3. In a machine for forming strips of tacks joined along opposite sidesof their heads and having their shanks projecting perpendicularly withrespect to the length thereof as defined in claim 2, the constructionwherein said roller dies have annular grooves in the cylindricalsurfaces thereof and joining said tack shaped cavities at the head endsthereof, and a backing ring received within said annular grooves.

ROBERT V. HOWELL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 405,733 Griscom June 25, 18891,228,198 Frauenheim May 29, 1917

